Breaking Down Silos to Promote Collaborative Reflection in Healthcare

摘要

Coordination of health services is one of the defining challenges of today’s healthcare system. The U.S. healthcare system has grown highly complex due to: a high pace of advances in science and technology; increasing expectations from patients who are more informed and better connected than ever; higher complexity of U.S. laws, regulations, and payment; and an increase in chronic illness [1]. Half of Americans have at least one chronic condition, defined as a physical or mental illness that lasts more than 3 months [1]. Long-term care of chronic conditions requires the coordination of multiple providers and agencies, which is a complex new model for healthcare delivery. Yet a growing body of literature shows that the promise of health information technology to support healthcare delivery—reducing human error and cost, while improving coordination, best practices, and efficiency—remains largely unfulfilled.